John Broussard, Jason Theriot, Hewitt Theriot:

-Pearl Harbor day Broussard was going to a date with a nurse from Lafayette and he was on the way to pick her up when he heard it on the car radio
-The draft board was going to put him into the Army, so he “jumped the stick” and joined the Marines in January 8, 1942
-Brought him to New Orleans and from there on a troop train to San Diego for boot camp
-After the camp went to Saint Louis Abistol in the mountains; 22 years old

(7:10) After 2 weeks at Saint Louis Abistol in the rifle range went back to San Diego
-That night they got there they were put on a ship for 200 people but had 2,000 soldiers crossing the ocean
-Reached Samoa, unloaded and sent into the hills; no Japanese, came to relieve some “China Marines”
-Were given tents and cots, it rained every day and flooded

-Went through a telephone school there; learned to climb on coconut trees rather than a pole
-First time up fell down 10 feet onto his back
-Stayed there for 6-8 months before going back on the ship to Wallis Island; they were a defense battalion
-They were there to keep the Japanese from taking this island; early 1942
-Made friends with the natives; had a French governor and some French Marines and nuns
-Made a wonderful job in making Catholics out of the natives; would go to their beautiful churches for mass

(14:00)
-Stayed there for 22 months; only way off that island was to get Elephantiasis or as the natives called it “Moo Moo”, got it from a mosquito bite and it’d swell up
-Broussard did get Elephantiasis; they’d take them on a hospital ship back to the states and then once healed back to the island
-Got on leave for 30 days after recouping and got married during that time
-Reported back to Belle Chase, a naval station across the Mississippi
-They were guarding some ammunition dumps where the submarines were stationed
-Transferred to Quantico, Virginia as seasoned veterans
-Never saw any action, closest to it he got was on the islands but still nothing

-Acted as an interpreter on Wallis Island as he could talk to the governor and natives; helped his commander
-Built an air strip on it; nothing ever happened; (27:27) story of a fight
-The natives were lighter skin than Africans; French did a good job in making them decent Catholics; gentle people, dressed well
-Liked to eat dog rather than the wild pigs; coconuts and fish were big part of their diet

-Every 2-3 months a ship would come to give supplies; sometimes brought mail and cigars
-After staying in Quantico he went to Camp Pendleton, in the desert
-Was shipped off to Honolulu, Hawaii; getting close to the end of the war, was there when the bombs were dropped
-Shipped out to Okinawa on an LST; then over to Sasebo with materials to make communications along the coast to Nagasaki

-While in Japan they began sending people home on points and eventually Broussard was sent off
-Took a ship to the Aleutian Islands, very cold and rough waters; seasick for 3 days
-Got back in San Francisco and took a train back home

Transcription Begins:

John Broussard
Born: July 25, 1919
2nd Marine Division/South Pacific
Samoa & Wallis Island

On Pearl Harbor Day I had a date with a nurse from Lafayette. I was born out there on Peebbles Plantation. I practically grew up on the dairy out there, selling milk to the locals. My fat uncle and I bought the dairy and the cows from my grandfather. And there was a young kid that worked with me and he and I joined the Marine Corp shortly after Pearl Harbor.

Between me and my fat uncle, one of us had to go to the service. My uncle told me the farm would be waiting for me when I got back. The draft board had me by the neck to join the army, so I decided to "jump the stick" and joined the Marines. I did on January 8, 1942. They put me on the bus and brought me to New Orleans. From there we went on troop train to San Diego for boot camp. I was a pretty big fellow then; I weighed about 220 lbs.

I made it through boot camp with no problems. Right out of boot camp they put us on a train and hauled our butts to Saint Louis Abistol. I was 22-years old. We got there up in the mountains at a rifle range.

At that rifle range at Saint Louis Apispol we took target practice. I hit maybe a few out of a hundred. I think I had a little crook in my eye. We went back to San Diego that same night. We never got to see the town, never got a liberty pass, and we got onboard a ship- the President Garfield. The ship was built for 200 passengers; we were 2,000 marines aboard that ship crossing the ocean.

It was in the 2nd battalion/2nd Marines. We got to Samoa. We unloaded and they sent us out in the hills. There weren't any Japs, but there had some old "China Marines." We were there to take their place. Boy they were salty. They were tough. They didn't drink beer cold, they drank it hot, cause it had more of a kick.

So we'd go out to the boon-docks and they gave us an old leaky tent and a canvas cot. It rained everyday. I went to a telephone school out there. I learn how to climb coconut trees to run telephone lines. The first time I went up a tree with those spikes, I fell down about 10 feet on my back. It knocked the wind out of me. We stayed there about 6-8 months, then we boarded another ship and took off to Wallis Island, half way between Samoa and Fiji.

This was early 1942. We were a defense battalion. Our job was to occupy an island and sit there so that the Japs wouldn't take it over. We built a little airstrip there and we had some radar stations set up with machine gun nests. We had a ton of dynamite to blow up our installations incase the Japs tried to take over the island.

We got to be friends with the natives there and we were doing good. There was a French governor on that island with his family. I got to be friendly with them. They had a hand-full of French Marines and a dozen nuns that ran a hospital. They had done a wonderful job making Catholics out of the natives. They built some beautiful churches and I'd go to the mass. It was really beautiful out there, but I was far away from home. I stayed there for 22 months.

The natives didn't bother us. They were these big beautiful coconut trees all over the island. There were these wild pigs that would run around in the bush, but the natives wouldn't touch them. But if a big fat dog walked by watch out. Those natives like to eat those big dogs. The natives had dark skin and the women were beautiful. There was an outbreak of leprosy out there. They were very gentle people. The French did a good job making them civilized.

I had made friends with all of them. This one family had kind of adopted me. I had me a nice fat dog that I kept chained up under my bunk, but one time he got out…and he never came back. I guess they ate my dog.

I would act as an interpreter for that French governor and our commander. We'd get together and they'd talk a good bit, and sip on some conyak. I'd have a little tottie myself sometimes. I had a guy who sent me a box of good cigars. They were good.

The only way to get off the rock to come back home during the war was to get Elephantiasis. The natives called it the Moo Moo. A mosquito would bite you and you would swell up. It was close to the equator in the tropics, so we'd sleep naked all the time and we'd get bit by the mosquitoes. If you'd get it, you got to ride in the hospital ship to come back home till you healed up. They'd keep us in a hospital for a few months till you got over it, then back to the rock.

I came home on leave one time while I was recouping from elephantities. I came to New Iberia for 30 days and got married. I reported back to the naval hospital in New Orleans after my 30 days, a married man. I still had the bug in me I guess.

I reported to Belle Chase, the naval station across the Mississippi. It was nice. I had weekend passes and I'd come home. We were guarding some ammunition dumps out there where they had our submarines stationed. The submarines would come and load up right there.

From there they transferred me to Kwanico, Virginia. We were showing these officers how to live out in the boon docks, since we were seasoned veterans. We'd spend a few days out in the snow. I stayed there maybe six months.

I went to the desert at Camp Pendleton for a short while. Then they shipped back to Honolulu, Hawaii. I was there when we dropped the bomb. They weren't happy with me yet, so they put me on an LST and sent me to Okinawa. This was after the Japs had surrendered. We picked up some materials and went to Sasebo, Japan to put up some communications along the coast. We rebuilt telephone lines from the coast up to Nagasaki. There was nothing standing in that city; it looked like it was just squashed. It was awful.

When we finished out job on Japan we went to the Aleutian Islands. Boy it was cold up there, and rough as hell. I was seasick like you wouldn't believe. I didn't eat for three days. I got back to San Francisco and took a train back home.

I got to see a lot of places, but was lucky. I never saw any combat. I had a calm existence in the service

When I got back, my uncle told me that the farm wasn't big enough for the both of us. So he told me to take a hike. I had a wife and daughter to care for so I went into partnership with my other uncle. We bought my grandpa's sugar cane farm and all his mules and tractors. I had saved some money that the government gave me when I got out of the service. It was about $2,000. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.